by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

by Sam Amick, USA TODAY Sports

MIAMI - When the San Antonio Spurs discussed the story behind their drive for five, the inspiration to keep pushing when their fading seemed all-but inevitable, they often spoke of the pain that came from opportunity lost the year before.

But their 95-88 Game 7 loss to the Miami Heat on Thursday night at American Airlines Arena will bring with it a level of regret they'll wish they'd never known, something even worse than their 2012 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Conference Finals. They had the title within their grasps - again - until they didn't.

"The obvious word is 'disappointing'," Spurs star Tim Duncan said. "Tough end to the game. We made some bad decisions, missed some shots. I don't know what to say. Just give credit to the Miami Heat. LeBron (James) was unbelievable. Dwyane (Wade) was great. I just think they found a way to get it done. We stayed in the game. We gave ourselves opportunities to win the game, we just couldn't turn that corner. They made more plays down the stretch, bottom line."

This meant little for their legacy, but was everything to them.

The yellow tape had come out in Game 6, the championship stage set for their title celebration before it all fell apart. And then, in a Game 7 in which they showed no ill effects of the heartbreaking way it all came crashing down in the game before, the Spurs waited to long to seize what could have been theirs before James did just that.

His stepback jumper from the right wing with 27 seconds left put the Heat up four, just moments after Duncan had missed a vintage drive to his right - and the subsequent tip-in - that could have sparked something different.

After the game Heat star Dwanye Wade had nothing but praise for Duncan.

"Tim Duncan is one of the greatest players of all time," Wade said. "If I'm able to do what Tim Duncan did at 37 years old, I'm happy. That guy is a warrior."

In the end, it was more about James (37 points, 12 rebounds, four assists) doing what he was supposed to do than it was the Spurs coming up short. But try telling that to Tony Parker, who couldn't find his shot yet again and was a combined 9 of 35 in the last two games.

Or to Danny Green, who became the all-time Finals record holder in three-pointers five games in only to miss 17 of 19 shots in Games 6 and 7. Or Manu Ginobili, who coughed up 12 turnovers in those two games.

While the Spurs hadn't won it all since downing James and his Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007, they averaged 55 wins during the six seasons since and had been up 2-0 in the Western Conference finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder a year ago when it all fell apart. That 4-2 series loss stuck with them.

"To be at this point with this team in a situation where people kind of counted us out, is a great accomplishment to be in a Game 7," Duncan said. "Or to be in a Game 6 up one and two chances to win an NBA championship and not do it, that's tough to swallow."

They were among the elite for most of the season. San Antonio had been atop the Western Conference with a 55-17 record before injuries and poor play brought the momentum to a halt

Coach Gregg Popovich, never one for hyperbole, would admit that he'd never been this worried about his team entering the playoffs.

"What they accomplished this year is something that nobody expected," Popovich said. "They showed a lot of mental toughness and a lot of good play to get where they got and I'm really proud of them."

Popovich was talking about the season, but he could've been talking about Game 7. The Spurs did what so many assumed they couldn't in the finale, responding to the devastating Game 6 loss in which they blew a five-point lead with 28 seconds left and saw their title shot fade in the most painful of ways with a masterful performance. They were in it until the final minute.

"Being so close and feeling that you are about to grab that trophy and seeing it vanish is so hard. It's a tough feeling." Manu Ginobili said. "We were five seconds away from raising that trophy (in Game 6). And it just didn't happen. So at this point it's very hard because we are all sad and disappointed, but as I said before, when there's such a fine line and we were so close of winning it, I mean, everything can be like failure or success just because of a shot."

Popovich had wasted no time trying to heal his players' spirits after Game 6, taking the team to a nearby Italian restaurant late that night to enjoy each other's company and, in essence, wipe their mental slate clean.

"From the minute we left the arena, it was about mental recovery more than anything, and putting things in perspective, getting to the point where you slap yourself and you don't cry about it and pity yourself and move on and realize that somehow or other you earned two chances to win one game to be NBA champions," Popovich said. "That's pretty cool to have that opportunity. So that's been the emphasis, to get to that point so that cup fills up again and past is past, and go compete."

The stakes were high for all involved, but the rarest of occurrences happened when Popovich admitted that even he was on edge about the game that loomed near. The man who's known for his short answers and edgy news conferences chided media members during his pregame session in a strangely endearing way, then prolonged the session after it appeared to be done because, well, talking to reporters was better than letting the stress and anticipation build in his mind.

"The busier I am before the game, the less I'll worry," he said.

Like any family, there have been arguments and obstacles. In June 2011, Tony Parker was quoted by the French media as saying that "We will always have a good team but can no longer say we're playing for a championship." He reportedly had his doubts about whether Duncan - more specifically his ailing left knee - would ever be the same again, and so he was accused of saying what the rest of the free basketball world was already thinking.

His Spurs bosses shrugged at it all, unsure if what he had said had been misconstrued but entirely sure that they didn't care. It was one of the countless times in which they did what they do so well - minimizing the drama, knowing their personnel and their personalities, and focusing on what mattered most: the basketball games.

Just as Duncan was notorious for never saying anything of great substance, and Ginobili for never saying anything controversial, Parker was the one who would speak too freely from time to time. So they ignored the hype and went about their business, unfazed as always. A year later, Duncan was agreeing to a new three-year deal and Parker was promising his newly-revived friend that they would return to the Finals together at least one more time.

But the notion that the Spurs came out of nowhere simply wasn't true. Not even close. Sure, they hadn't won it all since downing James and his Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007, but they averaged 55 wins during the six seasons since and had been up 2-0 in the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder a year ago when it all fell apart. That 4-2 series loss stuck with them in ways that the outside world didn't quite realize, driving the veterans and young players alike to fix what they had allowed to be broken.

And so, they were among the elite for most of the season. San Antonio had been atop the Western Conference with a 55-17 record before injuries and poor play brought the momentum to a halt. Popovich, never one for hyperbole, would admit that he'd never been this worried about his team entering the playoffs.

Parker went down with an ankle injury and missed 12 games in all late in the season, Ginobili suffered a hamstring injury and missed nine games, then small forward Boris Diaw was said to be lost for the season in early April when he needed back surgery (he returned in the second round of the playoffs). Since that high point, the Spurs split their last 20 regular season games and lost seven of their last 10.

They swept a Lakers team that, while a No. 7 seed, had won 28 of its last 40 games before losing Kobe Bryant to an Achilles tear. They survived an upstart Golden State Warriors club full of scorers of every kind, falling behind 2-1 in the semifinals before winning out in six games. The Memphis Grizzlies were supposed to pose the toughest challenge yet, and they too went down in a four-game sweep.

Even with the loss to the Heat, there was some poetic justice considering the infamous events of Nov. 29. That was the night Popovich played without Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, and Danny Green, having sent them home to rest rather than play in the nationally-televised game in a move that ultimately cost the Spurs $250,000 when the league disagreed.

"It was a game that was being played," NBA Commissioner David Stern said on June 9 when asked about the fine. "I know it, you know it and he knows it."

But there's always a game within the game that Popovich is playing, a style that eschews all outside influences and has everything to do with the togetherness that has led to so many titles.